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Friday, May 22, 2015

Take time on Memorial Day week-end to explore some of the history of Florida. Fort Foster Historic site is
located in the Hillsborough River State Park and is steeped in history
and natural beauty. The natural scenic beauty of the park is astounding
and many trails offer the visitor the opportunity to experience this
first hand.

Fort Foster may be visited
only by one of the tours leaving hourly on week ends from adjacent
Hillsborough State Park. A quarter mile trip by van from the park's
visitor center takes you to a shelter 900 feet from the site. From there
you will continue on foot along the old Fort King Military Road to the
fort. Rangers, in the uniforms of those 2nd artillery soldiers who
manned the fort in 1837, explain the events of that time and the life of
the artillerymen posted there. Hillsborough River State Park also
offers 112 campsites, picnic areas, pavilions and the Spirit of the
Woods Pool Side Café and Gift Shop. A swimming pool with a capacity of
216 swimmers is also within the park. From an afternoon picnic, an all
day family reunion, an extended stay by overnight camping or a corporate
gathering, Hillsborough River State Park provides an exceptional
setting in a natural environment for folks to relax and reconnect with
family, friends and colleagues.

This site illustrates the crucial role the lay of the land can play in
military strategy. In early March of 1865, Union General John Newton and
naval Commander William Gibson mounted a two pronged advance toward
Tallahassee. Newton landed his troops and headed north, but Gibson's
gunboats ran aground in the St. Marks river. When word reached
Tallahassee, the limited Confederate forces were quickly reinforced with
volunteers. Some volunteers were recuperating veterans, while others
were men as old as seventy and boys as young as fourteen.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Beautiful Floridian nature awaits you at Falling Waters State Park.
Hikers can experience the verdant, gently sloping landscape of North
Florida. Huge trees and fern-covered sinkholes line Sink Hole Trail, the
boardwalk that leads visitors to Florida's highest waterfall. Falling
Waters Sink is a 100-foot deep, 20-foot wide cylindrical pit into which
flows a small stream that drops 73 feet to the bottom of the sink. The
water's final destination remains unknown.

During the 1778 British occupation of Florida, Native Americans were
still living on Falling Waters Hill and the surrounding area. Though
they left no written records, artifacts are often found whenever a field
is tilled. In 1919, one of the first oil wells in Florida was drilled
at Falling Waters. Indian legends and a wildcat stock promoter’s claim
of oil, helped get the project going. A Tall, wooden derrick and steam
driven rigs were used to drill for oil, but the drillers had little
luck. When a depth of 3,900 feet was reached, a blow of gas released
from the drill site temporarily excited area residents with a false
report of a gusher. Promoters continued to drill the oil well to a final
depth of 4,912 feet. When all was said and done, no oil of commercial
quality was ever found. The well was capped in 1921. The terrestrial
caves of the park are documented roosting sites for the southeastern bat.

Monday, May 4, 2015

I got a bat house as a birthday present from my son and I am eager to to how well the bats like it. It says it can hold up to 300 which may be a bit much but I am looking forward to less mosquito in the yard with the help of these flying mammals. Florida’s 13 native bat species are gluttonous consumers of night-flying
insects, including the ever-present, ever-biting mosquitoes. They can
eat up to half of their body weight in insects in one night.

Although some mammals can glide, bats are the only mammal that can truly
fly. Scientists have classified bats into a unique group or order
called "Chiroptera", which means "hand wing." Bats literally fly with
their hands! Their wings are much like our hands, but with longer
fingers and a thin, but tough, membrane (skin) between the fingers.
World-wide there are over 1,000 species of bats. From the fossil records
we have learned that bats existed over 65 million years ago. Today,
they inhabit all areas of the globe except Antarctica and the extreme
desert regions, but most bat species live in the tropics.